Insights & News

A human touch

The science of computing and robotics fascinates me

In a relatively short period of around 70 years, we have gone from computers that fill entire rooms, to humanoid robots with computers for brains capable of mimicking a wide array of human movements and tasks.

Many of our clients, especially those in the manufacturing and engineering sector, use robotics on a daily basis – from production lines to CNC machining.

I was reading recently about one of the latest developments in robotics – a robot arm that builds a series of smaller robots, independently improving the design each time based on the performance of the last.

The ability to learn and adapt our processes based on performance has historically been a major differentiator between humans and robots. It certainly doesn’t take much to begin to imagine a world where robots are able to take over many of the tasks we now consider to be exclusively human.

But I don’t think there is any cause for alarm. A ‘human touch’, as one of our clients recently put it, will always be valued, especially when you are advising them on the sale of what is probably their biggest asset – their business.

The ability to look beyond the job, and see the real people involved, is something that will always be uniquely human. And it’s nice when clients recognise it in your service, as in this piece of feedback I received earlier this year…

“We felt that even though BCMS was doing a job of work for us, there was a very real human touch to it all – it never felt like it was just business. It really felt like these guys were genuinely on our side.”